Good Enough
by Dawnshadow
Summary: [Incomplete, eventual Kalim x Rishid] On the eve of the Battle City finals, Shadi decides to right a wrong through the spirit of the Sennen Scales... and Rishid.
1. Prologue

-Prologue-

Shadi stepped into the room without opening the door. The bed touched three of the four thin walls, and a nightstand and a small bookcase took up the remaining space. There were a few books, a Duel Disk, and some folded shirts on the bookcase, and a dueling deck, an alarm clock, and a glass of water sat on the nightstand. There was also a tiny closet beside the door, but it was empty aside from a few changes of clothing and a heavy robe made of some dark material. That was everything in the room, aside from the man himself, who was asleep.

A mental "voice" intruded on Shadi's thoughts. :Why are we here?: it asked. 

Shadi started. He had not expected the voice, the spirit inhabiting the Sennen Scales, to be aware of what he was doing. The Scales were the only Item he had never found a holder for. He had managed to locate the proper holder for one, and a suitable holder for another, but the one destined to carry the Scales in the present eluded him. After considering the spirit's question, Shadi decided to tell him the truth.

 :I… made a terrible mistake some years ago,: Shadi confessed, :and I am seeking to right it.:

:So, Shadi the Mysterious and Powerful is admitting to a mistake? I thought I'd never live to see the day.: The spirit paused for a moment, and Shadi sensed his amusement. :Well, maybe not _live,_ but it's the thought that counts. Will you tell me what you're planning?:

Shadi slowly, silently, cleared a spot on the nightstand. :I will give him the Scales. Hopefully you will be able to use him to stop--:

:Wait! You... you found _him?_: The spirit's mental tone betrayed his excitement. His loyalty to the Pharaoh was intact, even after thousands of years in the Item, and he'd often voiced his wish to assist the Pharaoh more directly after Shadi found his reincarnation. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

:He is not your reincarnation,: Shadi explained. :I am sorry.:

:What do you mean, 'He's not my reincarnation?' Who is he, and why are you giving him _my _Scales?: the spirit demanded.  

Shadi sighed, almost inaudibly. :The Pharaoh's fate is in grave danger. I inadvertently made one Malik Ishtar believe that the Pharaoh was his father's murderer, and now he is nearly insane with the need for vengeance.:

The man shifted and murmured in his sleep. Shadi froze until he was certain the man would not wake up. It was essential that he remained unaware of Shadi's presence, for he could not know the plan

Shadi turned his attention to the spirit. :You must protect the Pharaoh at all costs. This man may not be your reincarnation, but he will be good enough for our purposes.:  The man was the only person close enough to Ishtar to have a chance… the only one who remained free enough of will for the spirit to influence. :Good luck.: 

Shadi set the Scales on the nightstand before the spirit could protest and left as silently as he had come.


	2. Part I

Notes: Thanks again to Litsares!

-Part I-

The alarm sounded well before dawn. Rishid mumbled, clinging futilely to the remains of sleep, and reached to silence the alarm clock. 

_Clang! _Rishid was left with the impression of cold metal as something that had not been there the night before tumbled to the hard floor. He silenced the alarm, sat up groggily, and reached to turn on the light. He'd knocked down what appeared to be a scale balance made of gold. Rishid reached down and scooped it up, inspected it, and realized that the markings on it were familiar.

_/This is a Sennen Item!_/ Rishid turned it upright and tapped one side of the balance. It swayed for a few moments, glittering. /_But how did it get here?/_ He stood and tested the door, but it was locked, the chain secure. There was no sign of anyone having entered the room, and Rishid was a light enough sleeper that an intruder should have awakened him. But Sennen Items did not just appear out of nowhere.

He decided to inform Malik of this development. Although Malik had little interest in the Items, Rishid's possession of the Scales could put a new spin on his plan. Malik did not control Rishid with the Sennen Rod, but he kept a mental link open so they could communicate at distance. Rishid used the link, "speaking" very quietly.

:Malik-sama...?:

Mental silence.

:Malik-sama, are you awake...?:

: tooearlygoaway.: It was as much concept as words; Malik was definitely not awake. 

/I will have to speak to Malik about this later. But now, I must win the locator cards I need. This matter can wait until I've completed my task. If I don't qualify for the finals... /

He gathered his clothing and went to shower. 

In the end, Rishid decided to take the Scales with him. He didn't trust the Ghouls; even though they were under Malik's control, they weren't totally enthralled. One of them might be tempted to steal the Scales.

He had not been able to speak with Malik yet. He had tried to after his first duel, but Malik had waved him off, saying that he was far too busy to speak at the moment and to find locator cards. Rishid was trying his best to obey, but there weren't that many duelists left in the competition....

* * *

_/The Game has changed,/_ the Spirit of the Sennen Scales thought, watching the duel progress through his host's eyes. He remembered the Dark Game-- most of it, at least-- and this was definitely derived from it. Yet, there were changes. For one thing, the monsters were no longer sealed in stone tablets. Instead, their images appeared on small, thick slips of a sort of papyrus called "card board" in a range of colors that would make any scribe jealous. Instead of using their own innate power to summon the monsters, they used magical devices called "Duel Disks" to summon them. And nobody seemed to use his own Ka anymore. 

Not only that, but the entire process was ritualized to a high degree, almost oppressively so. The "duelists" took turns attacking and defending, and both the strength of the monsters and the players' "life" were represented by numbers, rather than by their own strength of soul. And the prize was also strange: a shining piece of papyrus called a "locator card," along with one of the opponent's monsters.

The other odd thing was that his host's strategy didn't involve many monsters at all. Instead, he laid traps upon traps, tricking his opponent into wasting valuable resources. It was an insane strategy, but an effective one, as he was proving by defeating his opponent.

As the other man's "life points" dropped to zero, the spirit felt something that struck him as odd: the aura of a Penalty Game....

* * *

Rishid had just pocketed the last locator cards he needed when he heard distant screams of terror. That was all he knew for a while.

* * *

The spirit marveled at the feeling of having a corporeal body for the first time in three thousand years. Sure, it wasn't _his_ body, but it was still a wonderful sensation. 

He'd decided to see who was playing a penalty game, and so had taken over his host's body. Hopefully, his host wouldn't notice. The spirit followed the feeling of _darkness_ to what appeared to be a field of tablets. They had writing on them, but it was an odd, scribbled sort of writing that he didn't recognize. They weren't monster tablets.

There was only one person in the field of tablets. He seemed familiar, with long white hair and a wicked smirk. But there was something that wasn't right about him; he was entirely too pale. The spirit felt a sudden shiver trickle down his borrowed spine.

_/That man, he killed... _someone._ Someone important, back then. But who was it? Who did he kill? Damn these memory holes!/_

"You," he finally accused, "you murderer!" _/Hopefully he'll give me a clue as to who./_

Yet the other man took it in a way the spirit had not intended. "They agreed to a penalty game," he explained, "Item holder. You wear the costume of one of Malik's followers, but I don't sense the power of the Sennen Rod. Hmph. He neglected to tell me he had another Item Holder working for him."

/Malik? Isn't that the guy I'm supposed to be protecting the Pharaoh from? Shadi, what have you got me into?/ 

The spirit decided to change the subject, and to pay attention to his host's thoughts in the future to prevent any more unpleasant surprises like that from coming up. "Who did you kill?"

"Just a few worthless mortals. No one important. I'd love to chat, but I have to leave now. Don't worry, though, I'll find you and your Item when I'm not so busy." And he turned and left.

_The Spirit of the Scales watched the man leave, and then relinquished control to his host. _/This is going to be more complicated than I thought it would be./

-End I-

Please review...?


	3. Part II

-Part II-

Notes: Yes, Kalim is the Spirit of the Scales; who else? And yes, I know he's not really in them. I'll explain how he gets in them later. Hopefully. As soon as I figure it out.

/What am I doing in a graveyard? I was just dueling.../ Rishid looked around. He was alone. /Perhaps I should contact Malik-sama. He'll be awake by now./ Rishid "found" the mental link in his mind and thought through it. :Malik-sama.:

Rishid sensed an awakening of sorts. :What is it, Rishid?: Malik's mental voice carried nuances of emotion that regular speech did not, and it was obvious to Rishid that he had been interrupted. Malik didn't like to be interrupted.

:There are two things that I must tell you. First, I have all the locator cards.:

:Good,: Malik purred, no longer as annoyed. :Hurry and activate them, time is running short. What else?:

:When I woke up this morning, I found that someone had left something of great value in my room. Yet, there was no sign of intrusion.:

Curiosity. :What was it?:

:It was one of the Sennen Items, the Scales.: Rishid proceeded to explain how he'd discovered them that morning.

:Sennen Items don't just appear. This must be your destiny.:

Rishid caught the sudden shift in Malik's tone. :I promise to never leave you, Malik-sama, no matter what happens.:

:Good. Rishid, you know what the Scales do, don't you?:

:In general... They are based on the Scales of Ma'at. They weigh a person's very soul, and can determine its purity. And, if the person fails their test, his very soul is devoured. It is not an Item to be used lightly.:

:Yes.... this is just what we need. If you duel the Pharaoh, you can judge him.:

:Use the Scales' power?:

:Of course! This is how we can fulfill our destiny, Rishid! The Pharaoh will not survive such a test. Use the locator cards now, so we can begin!:

Malik closed the link, and Rishid started to slip the locator cards into his Duel Disk.

Rishid was led by the locator cards to an enormous blimp, the Battle Ship. Upon boarding, he found he was the seventh qualifier; Malik-- 'Namu', that was--, the Pharaoh, and the other qualifiers had already boarded and were preparing for a feast before the dueling began.  Rishid wasn't hungry, so he went to his assigned cabin and studied the surroundings. It was a sparse space, only containing a bed, a computer console, and several bland paintings. The duelists were not expected to bring any belongings to the ship, so there was no room for storage. A glance into the door that didn't lead back into the hall revealed a small washroom containing a toilet, mirror, and sink. Rishid closed the door. It was adequate.

Rishid sat on the bed-- it was quite soft and springy-- and pulled the Sennen Scales from his cloak. The pans swayed slightly with the movement, then steadied.

/Why were these brought to me? Is it as Malik-sama said, that it is destiny? Maybe it was a mistake. Why me, of all people? Is there no one better suited to aid Malik-sama?/

-No, there isn't.-

/Of course there isn't; I am the only person close to Malik-sama in the finals. I will do as he commanded and use the Scales' power on the Pharaoh. Then maybe Malik-sama will--/

:Rishid? Are you on the ship?: Malik asked Rishid.

:Yes, Malik-sama. I am in my cabin,: Rishid replied. :Is there anything you'd like me to do?

:Aside from getting me away from these... the Pharaoh's little fan club? It would be nice if you could make an appearance up here, let them know that 'Malik' is in the finals. Give them something to anticipate. Besides, you need to eat before the finals. It won't do for you to faint from hunger during your duel. They will be selecting the first two duelists in one hour.:

:Right away, Malik-sama,: Rishid replied, mentally bowing. He could force something down if Malik wanted him to.

:Good. Remember, I'm just another nameless duelist.: Rishid could imagine Malik's smirk at the pun. :And be intimidating.:

:Of course, Malik-sama.: Rishid tucked the Scales back into his robe and headed up to the party.

The spirit sighed. He'd not succeeded in gleaning much from his host's thoughts, a dilemma that was made worse by the fact that he could not hear Malik's half of their frequent mental conversations. And what did -sama mean? It was probably significant.

Right. The facts. Rishid obviously was subservient to Malik for some reason. Malik had told him to use the Scales on the Pharaoh, which wasn't a problem; Shadi had done the same thing to ensure that it really was the Pharaoh and not... um... well, the spirit didn't remember what else was in that puzzle, but the half-memory gave him a creepy feeling. The host had qualified for some sort of contest with the papyrus monsters. And he didn't think much of himself, it seemed.

The spirit had succeeded in one small thing. He had, as a test, whispered a quiet suggestion into his host's mental monologue, and the host had not noticed. In fact, he'd accepted it as a thought. It was a promising ability, but the spirit doubted he could make the man do anything against his nature, like betraying Malik.  Besides, that wouldn't be right. But, if need be, he could at least make his host hesitate at a critical moment.

Okay. His host was at a party, and they were waiting for... something. Who knew what it was? That thought hadn't crossed his host's mind. He was standing near the door, leaning against the wall, watching as Malik/Namu chatted with a tall, dark-haired boy neither of them knew and another duelist, this one blond, walked away from the food table with half its contents. The blond guy looked over toward his host and started glaring, so the spirit decided that listening in to his host's thoughts might be a good idea.

/..glad he survived it, it's not his fault that the Pharaoh's been able to trick him into believing his lies.../

The blond, who was busy glaring, slammed into another duelist, nearly dropping his tray in the process. The duelist turned, and the spirit gasped.

/It's him! The guy from the tablet field!/ But... he was smiling sweetly, obviously telling the blond something. The blond paled and walked over to Malik-sam- /Oh, he's got me doing it now,/ Malik and the other duelist, and offered them some food from his tray. He'd apparently lost his appetite.

Suddenly, there was a hiss and a voice from nowhere. "Will all duelists please report to the lounge area for the first duel. I repeat, all duelists to the lounge area. Thank you." The host didn't seem too surprised, so the spirit assumed voices from nowhere were an everyday occurrence in this time. Minutes passed, but no one new entered the "lounge."

"Come on, Kaiba! What are we waiting for?" someone shouted. It was the blond guy again.

A man in a long white sleeved cape, something similar to what his host wore, stood. "Mediocre duelist. Can't you be patient?" he asked.

/I remember him. Seth. That's Seth!/ The spirit smiled. Seth-- no, Kai-bah-- would be helpful.

"Why can't we start?" the blonde asked impatiently.

The voice-from-nowhere replied, "The eighth duelist has not yet arrived."

Seth nodded. "We'll go on. Raise the platform!" The spirit watched, enthralled, as a Blue Eyes White Dragon rose from a stage. Seth stepped up to it. "This is a bingo machine. It contains eight numbered balls, each corresponding to a duelist. Before each duel, two balls will be selected. You will not know your opponent until just before your duel." Seth flipped something, and the balls started to dance. One fell into the dragon's month and came out of a chute. Seth picked it up and read it.

"The first duelist is..."

-End II-


End file.
